What are examples of customer self-service?
Common examples are a help centre or knowledge base, an FAQ page, in-product guides, a community forum, account settings customers can change themselves, and AI chatbots or voice agents. Kawl Now is a voice example: website visitors ask a product question aloud and hear an answer from knowledge the company has approved.
Does self-service replace a support team?
No. Self-service handles questions with a known answer, such as how to set something up. Account problems, bugs that need investigating and upset customers still need a person, so keep an easy route to your team beside every self-service option.
What is the difference between a knowledge base and a help centre?
A knowledge base is the collection of articles. A help centre is the customer-facing website that presents them, usually with search, categories and ways to contact your team. The terms are often used interchangeably because most help centres are built around a public knowledge base.
From What is a knowledge base? What it holds and how AI uses it
Is a help centre the same as a help desk?
No. A help desk is the software your team uses to receive, assign and answer support requests, usually as tickets. A help centre is the public website where customers find answers themselves. Many help desk tools include a help centre feature, which is why the names get mixed up.
What is a good CSAT score?
There’s no universal benchmark, because scores depend on the question, the scale, when you ask and who answers. Compare your score with your own earlier results from the same survey, and read the comments behind low ratings to see what to fix.
What is the difference between CSAT and NPS?
CSAT asks how satisfied someone was, usually with a recent interaction, on a short scale such as 1 to 5. Net Promoter Score asks how likely they are to recommend you on a scale of 0 to 10, and subtracts the percentage of detractors (0 to 6) from the percentage of promoters (9 and 10). CSAT suits a single conversation, while NPS describes the wider relationship.
What is the difference between first contact resolution and first call resolution?
They measure the same thing. First call resolution is the older contact-centre name for phone calls, and first contact resolution covers any channel, including email, chat and AI agents. Check which channels a figure includes before you compare it with another.
What is a good first contact resolution rate?
It depends on how you define resolved and which issues you include, so published benchmarks rarely compare like with like. Track your own rate with one definition over time, and break it down by type of issue to see where customers have to come back.
Is a lower average handle time always better?
No. A lower AHT can mean faster answers or rushed ones. Track it beside first contact resolution and customer satisfaction, and find out why long interactions run long before you try to shorten them.
From What is average handle time (AHT) and how is it calculated?
Does average handle time include hold time?
Yes. The standard formula is talk time plus hold time plus after-call work, divided by the number of interactions handled. Time spent waiting in a queue before anyone answers is usually measured separately, as wait time.
From What is average handle time (AHT) and how is it calculated?
What is the difference between call deflection and ticket deflection?
Call deflection aims to meet a need without a phone call to your support team, and ticket deflection aims to meet it without a support ticket or email. Both rely on self-service, such as help centre articles or an AI agent, and both should be checked against whether the customer’s need was met.
How do you measure ticket deflection?
Count how many people use a self-service option and how many of them go on to raise a ticket about the same issue. The share who don’t is your deflection rate. Confirm it with surveys or a sample of conversations, because some of those people gave up rather than found an answer.
Is live chat answered by a person or a bot?
Traditionally by a person: live chat means your team replies in real time. Many live chat tools now add an AI chatbot that answers first and passes the conversation to a person when it can’t help, so ask each vendor who answers at each stage.
What is the difference between a chatbot and an AI agent?
The terms overlap. A chatbot is defined by its interface: it holds a conversation. An AI agent is defined by what it does: it works towards a goal, often by calling tools and taking actions. Many AI chatbots are now sold as AI agents, so ask what each one can actually do.
From What is a chatbot? Rule-based and AI chatbots explained
Are chatbots and voice bots the same thing?
They work in a similar way but use different channels. A chatbot answers typed messages, and a voice bot or voice agent listens and speaks. Kawl Now is a voice agent that runs in a widget on your website, with no phone number for customers to call and no text chat.
From What is a chatbot? Rule-based and AI chatbots explained
What does IVR stand for?
IVR stands for interactive voice response: an automated phone system that plays prompts and responds to callers’ key presses or speech, usually to route the call or answer simple requests.
What is the difference between an IVR and an AI voice agent?
A traditional IVR follows a fixed menu and reacts to key presses or set phrases. An AI voice agent holds an open conversation and answers questions in its own words. Many AI voice agents run on phone lines, which is why the terms overlap. Kawl Now’s agent runs only in the browser on your website.
How does an AI receptionist answer an existing business number?
Usually through call forwarding. You forward your business line to a number the provider gives you, either for every call or only when nobody answers, so callers keep dialling the number they know. Some providers also issue a new number you can publish instead.
What is the difference between click to call and a callback?
Click to call starts the call from the visitor’s side: their device dials your number. A callback reverses it: the visitor leaves their number and your system rings them, straight away or at a time they choose. Both end in a phone conversation with your team.
Do click-to-call links work on a desktop computer?
Only if the computer has an app that handles tel: links, such as FaceTime on a Mac. Otherwise the click may do nothing or the browser may ask which app to use, so show the number as text as well.